Dog Rescue Center Samui Brigitte Gomm 112/35 Moo 6 Bophut Samui 84320 Suratthani Thailand Phone: 00 66 77 413 490 Mobile: 00 66 81 893 94 43 E-Mail: info@samuidog.org Website: www.samuidog.org Dear animal-lovers! April 2010 For you, the long and hard winter will finally be over while we, in Koh Samui, expect a hard summer! Last year, the rains didn t fall and the government has announced that there will be sufficient water only until May unless we have a miracle. I hope that in our animal rescue center, our well that provides our water doesn t dry out so that we will be able to have enough for all the thirsty creatures. In June 2009 we built a water line and have since been provided with low-priced water from the government. Despite a few small pipe bursts this has worked perfectly well though we expect worse to come! I hope we will only have to buy expensive water when absolutely necessary... All the houses are equipped with rain pipes and big tanks to collect the rain water, but this water has turned out inappropriate for the cleaning of the individual boxes. In the rescue center we have a deep well, but unfortunately the underground watercourse is not strong enough to supply our demand of 3000 litres a day. You wouldn t think that water could turn out to be a problem in the tropics! In the beginning of April I thought the government water had run out but after three days we realized that 2000 litres of water were stolen nightly from our external tanks! As a consequence, we solidly padlocked the lids of the tanks... On April 1, the Dog and Cat Rescue Center celebrated its 11 th anniversary. In Thailand it is a common practice and the staff expect this as well that a party will be held. First we enjoyed some great food and a couple of drinks, and some games had to be prepared for, too. In the end, people always end up singing...thai people LOVE karaoke!!!!! You can t imagine what huge staff parties are being organized in some of the hotels! Because of our economic situation, the party in our place was rather modest, but everybody had great fun and some of our helping hands will certainly take part again next year! Info letter April 2010 - page 1 of 8
As was to be expected, we had fewer tourists than last year. Political turbulence and consequently rising demonstrations are almost the Bangkok order of the day. We assume, that s the reason many tourists have chosen to stay away from visiting Thailand. In February, we had the annual meeting of the TSPCA in Chon Buri, where all the societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals had been invited. Our manager Wit also went to Chon Buri, and he came back with the same result as usual. Unfortunately no law for the protection of animals could be passed last year either, as governments were regularly (re-)elected and none had the time for this issue. Evidently no such law will possibly be passed in the near future. It is amazing, that such a big number of Thai people are mostly interested in talking about the protection of animals but unfortunately in so many years little has been achieved. Less tourists means, of course, less donations for the cats and dogs. In good times, we can collect about 25% of the contributions from the tourists on the island. What is really causing me big trouble is the extremely bad exchange rate. At Christmas it was 50 Baht but now it has sunk to 42 Baht for 1 Euro! Due to this decrease in the exchange rate, we have to make up for al loss of 1500 Euro every month, as we collect most of the donated money in Germany. But we won t complain, there are a lot of positive items I can talk about! I strongly hope you will support us in our 12 th year of existence of the DRCS as well! Have a look at the DRCS homepage www.samuidog.org: there you can read and see, what has been or will be made possible by means of your support! Every day, Dr. Sith sterilizes 6 dogs or cats and cares for 350 dogs in the asylum. About 100 of them get their daily medicine. To fulfil this job, he depends on a good team of helping hands. Due to winning TASSOs first price of 5000 Euros, it s certainly become a more joyful place for Dr.Sith to work. Great thanks to Ulrike and Sabine who put us forward for the TASSO award and received the certificate on our behalf. Lots of thanks to all those who contributed with their votes to TASSO, resulting in the DRCS winning the first prize. With the TASSO money we modified the former cat room and the completely superfluous storage room (always crammed with waste), into a surgery room and a treatment room. Furthermore we had to buy some pieces of furniture and an operating table. On our homepage, under Info and News, you can see pictures of the construction work going on. By the separation of the operation room from the treatment room, hygiene conditions have greatly improved. Previously, customers bringing their sick cats and dogs were often waiting for the vet in his operating room, spreading untold numbers of virus and bacteria. Even though it was strictly forbidden to enter the operation room without a clear invitation from the vet, helpers and visitors alike kept ignoring the regulations and continuously walked into the operation room or left the door wide open. Thankfully this has finally stopped and the ever so necessary steps have been taken. Dr. Sith can now focuses on his work without constant interruptions. Info letter April 2010 - page 2 of 8
Operation room -12 m 2 Dr. Sith and Bang Treatment room - 16 m 2 Dr. Sith, Bang and Ow The new entrance to the clinic: Bärbel and Günter waiting with some dogs to see the vet for examination. The first tourists found our new donation box. It s a safe, which is welded onto the wall. Volunteers In January and February we had two new students of veterinary medicine staying with us. They examined all our dogs, vaccinated, dewormed them and took down all the diagnoses on the animals cards and discussed with Dr. Sith which steps to take. In the picture you can see Cat and Katharina from England at work with our Thai helpers Ow and Thai. On March 2, after the film in Pro 7 had been broadcast, we got about 30 application letters from volunteers. I m very curious to see how many will be showing up! Elena from Amberg in Germany has already arrived and she wants to help us for one month. Besides her, we have received information that a couple of students of veterinary medicine in their last semester have signed up. We are always very happy to receive volunteers! You may help as long as you wish: a couple of months, some weeks, or even only some hours...the cats and dogs are so happy to receive some caring strokes. Info letter April 2010 - page 3 of 8
Volunteers of a special kind Dr. Sith was extremely pleased when Dr. Asgar, Katharina, her husband Martin, and the two medical secretaries Christa and Charlotte showed up as promised last September! All of them arrived end of March for a two weeks support from Denmark. In September 2009, Dr. Asgar and Dr. Sith had worked perfectly well with each other, and, as Dr. Asgar is a very experienced doctor, Dr. Sith profited from Dr. Asgar s knowledge and experience and could increase his own personal knowledge. His pleasure was immense when he was forwarded medical instruments and medicine Dr. Asgar had brought along, together with a lot of nice items for the cats and dogs! Dr. Asgar, Katharina, Martin, Christa und Charlotte Long time volunteers Since August 2009, Bärbel and Günter have lived almost the whole year on the island. Every day, they go to the animal shelter to look after the dogs; they always find dogs who aren t strong enough to become accepted in the big kennels, where we usually keep 30 to 40 dogs. We partitioned one big kennel into three smaller ones and there we take care of the skinny and fearful dogs. They get an extra ration of rice-meat mix a day and lots of love from Bärbel and Günter. Furthermore we built an extra kennel for mangy dogs; they are given an extra portion of ricemeat mix a day and are treated with an ointment. The third kennel is especially reserved for difficult dogs. Bärbel und Günter mit Socke. Two other new kennels have been installed for dogs who will be travelling to Europe shortly: one for puppies and one for adult dogs. Of course Bärbel and Günter are also keeping a close eye on them. Meanwhile the helpers have understood that they have to follow their orders - if they don t Bärbel and Günter tattle on them to me...and I will cause them quite some trouble, consequently! Every day, Bärbel and Günter control the record cards of the dogs. It can t really be so difficult to hang the right cards on top of the individual boxes, can it?? The record cards have all got pictures! Thanks to daily controls and threats of punishment the helpers handle this task very well. Many sincere thanks to all those who sacrificed some hours or days of their holiday to work as voluntary helpers in the DRCS: the animals are so thankful and care so much for the hands of the visitors who are stroking their coats... Thai helpers In my last Info letter I had introduced you to three new helpers. Two of them have remained, EM and LEK. EM should have returned to his work in the puppy house, but as his work ethic had obviously suffered a lot during his months-long absence, Jay and Linda decided to train LEG CHALIN to work there. He had been working very well with me in the house and he is a calm collegue. Meanwhile, Jay and Linda are very satisfied with the job he does. EM cares for the 7 big enclosures and does a good job as well. It is very easy to check whether the enclosures are clean and the bowls are filled with fresh water! KING, our house maid, hasn t returned from a family excursion on the continent. It s a pity, Sahm Löng, Rot Monti, Bau und Hu Info letter April 2010 - page 4 of 8
because he had finally understood everything well and he made a good job. Similar to that, MU also had problems in the family, and he disappeared from the island. MU was a hard-working, very friendly member of the staff; unfortunately his colleagues didn t like him very much. I think, they were afraid of him, because he had broken a colleague s nose (and his own hand!) in a fight! Furthermore DUENG left us: in the beginning he had worked very well, but he became more and more rebellious and lazy and caused trouble in the group. When work had to be done together, he annoyed everybody by his absence and we had to look for him constantly. Our manager WIT had warned him several times. After the payday he did not come back. New staff members were found soon. ROT MONTI lives right next to us and is extraordinarily polite and hardworking. He is very good at welding, which keeps him almost completely busy. It is incredible, how many doors in the individual boxes have to be repaired again and again, the dogs are constantly - and with a lot of energy - busy destroying fences and doors... SAHM LONG has got a driving licence, that s why he s useful for us here in the house. As more and more hotels participate in collecting food leftovers we absolutely needed a new helper with a driving licence. It was no longer possible to transport the many heavy buckets with the sidecar motorbike. You wouldn t believe how much the dogs love eating the rice mix: for that they let go any kind of dry dog pellets! BAU was engaged in the house as a substitute for KING, and HU was trained as help with the individual boxes. HU almost exclusively helps ROT MONTI with the continuous repair work in the animal rescue center. DAVE, one of our outside dogs checks the quality of the collected food leftovers from the hotels. SPONSORSHIPS A sponsorship costs 15 Euro a month. Many cats and dogs are still looking for sponsors! Please help us and assume a sponsorship! Cats and dogs looking for sponsors may be found on our homepage www.samuidog.org. How to help dogs and cats waiting for a sponsor. There will be no temporal responsibility for you if you take up a sponsorship: you may stop it any time. You will be sent pictures of your animals and, of course, short information letters about the well-being of your protégé! We are not only looking for sponsors for our cats and dogs in the rescue center, but we do also need flight sponsors accompanying cats and dogs who have found a new home in Germany or in Europe. When you travel with AIR BERLIN and want to help a dog to arrive at his now home in Germany, please inform me! An AIR BERLIN flight ticket for a dog, regardless of his or her weight, costs 120 Euro only (since November 1, 2009, before that date it was 60 Euro!), whereas 1 kg freight costs 35 Euro each with other companies. From June onwards, some dogs will be ready for set-off, to say, they will have accomplished their 4-months waiting period in Thailand and can finally travel to their new masters. Please do inform me when you fly with AIR BERLIN and feel like helping! Info letter April 2010 - page 5 of 8
Temple Project The Temple Project is now in its third year and has proven to be very successful. Hundreds of dogs and cats have been treated without being removed from their familiar environment. Very important for the work at the temples is the cooperation of the monks. Jay and Linda are both very happy with the trust and confidence they have established with the monks around the island. More and more they find the monks waiting for them with dogs and cats who are in need of medical attention, and if some emergency occurs outside of the allocated visit day, the monks will phone them for assistance. Many people living in the small villages surrounding the temples have become aware of the work carried out by our Temple-Team and an increasing number are bringing their cats and dogs to the temple when the girls are there. People bring their animals for medical assistance, vaccinations, contraception, or simply to learn more about the work of the DRCS. Jay and Linda invest as much time as possible in treating dogs and cats outside the shelter, something they ve always believed in. It s often hard for people to appreciate the stress and fear some animals experience while being removed from their environment and brought to the shelter for treatment. Countless dogs and cats have been successfully treated outside the shelter. The result of many positive outcomes, the great and informative working relationship with Dr. Sith and the fantastic characters (animals and humans) the girls meet along the way, will insure that they continue to go strong. Jay and Linda also have some great news from the PuppyHouseCorner: In the last 4 months, 67 puppies, 18 teenagers 4 mums (who arrived with their babies or gave birth at the puppy house) have found a home. Unfortunately we have also lost a lot, and every single day new injured, sick or abandoned puppies arrive at the shelter. Perhaps the number of puppies that have found homes or have been successfully treated, make up for the sad number of little ones that we were not able to save Info letter April 2010 - page 6 of 8
CATS The cats living with us in the house do certainly not have the impression to live in an animal shelter. During the day, they are basking in the sun on their own terrace, and, by night, they sleep in our bed!!! Of course not all of them, as the tickets reserved for the soft-seats are always sold out very quickly... Unfortunately we have still a number of baby-cats dying very young, but more and more can make it and this makes up for our entire endeavour! From December 17 until January 5, 2010 we went to Germany for a home leave. Allison from Scotland again sacrificed her holidays and took over charge and control of the DRCS while we were off. As she has been loading this serious task upon her shoulders for several years already, everything worked out perfectly well. Bärbel and Günter, who have lived on the island since August 2009, supported Allison s work with all their forces and regularly checked whether everything was okay in the animals home. Besides, Jay and Linda cared for the usual everyday tasks. Tom from Switzerland lent them a solid helping hand! I thank all of you very sincerely! From the 15th May until the 4th June, Werner and I will go to Germany again. This time for health reasons, but don t worry, it won t be long and we are back on track in Samui. As replacements in May, we will have last year s team again. Martina will stay in the house with us and will especially take care of the great number of cats. Katrin and Jörg will have a look around the kennels and inform me about misunderstandings. It goes without saying, that Jay and Linda will continuously be on duty for all the dogs and cats in need of help. MOVIE SHOTS WITH PRO 7 In my info letters of last August and December I had talked about the PRO 7 movie shots in the DRCS. On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at 13.00 h CET, the film was finally broadcast among the series It s my life, under the title of The Dog Rescuers of Koh Samui. Unfortunately many TV journals didn t announce this programme, as it was squeezed in on short notice. I would be very glad if all of you wrote to PRO 7 (zuschauerservice@prosieben.de), that the film had not been scheduled in TV magazines and therefore many animal lovers were not able to watch. Possibly PRO 7 might broadcast the film again and at a better broadcasting time, if only plenty of people were asking for that! http://www.prosiebensat1.com/service_kontakt/zuschauerredaktion/ In case you want me to send you a copy of the video, then please remit an amount of 10 on my bank account and tell me via e-mail that you want to have the video. (WDR has also made a very nice short film about us). Both films have turned out to be very good and give a realistic insight in our work. Thank you very much again to all the sponsors and helpers from all over the world. Because of your help, since 11 years every dog and cat can be helped for free on Koh Samui. Stray animals which have not found a place to survive on their own on Koh Samui can be brought into the shelter. Because of your donations, we can still neuter at least six animals every day. In the last 11 years, over 12,000 dogs and cats have been neutered and countless vaccinations and treatments have been carried out. We offer free medical treatment for ALL cats and dogs (with or without an owner, that doesn t matter) including a pick-up service. Of course we will continue to offer free medical treatments for animals with owners as long as possible but since last November, we are no longer in the position to offer free vaccinations. I know that these vaccines are important but at this point of time when we have to save wherever we can, I don't know another way around this. Rabies vaccine is still free for everyone. Compared to the vaccine for parvo, distemper etc., the rabies vaccine is still quite a bit cheaper. Also in the last four months we had to take on some dogs and cats in our shelter as they couldn t find a way to survive on their own. All had to move closer together to give space to the new arrivals. However we really cannot take on many more dogs as otherwise they will injure themselves during bite and power fights. With a sponsorship you can help to make sure that their bowls are never empty. Have a look on the homepage Info letter April 2010 - page 7 of 8
('How to Help', 'Cats and Dogs to Sponsor'). Sponsoring a dog or a cat is 15 Euro a month! Even if you do not want to sponsor an animal, it s definitely worth having a look at our many dogs and cats and read their stories! If you re coming to Samui and you wish to bring a donation: Old towels and bed linen and sheets for the puppies and the cats, OLD toys for the puppies, powdered kitten/puppy milk, cat de-worming paste, deworming tablets for dogs (multi-wormer), and flea collars for dogs. We can always use these things. Please check with your vet, if they have any old de-worming tablets or other medicine for dogs and cats to spare, which you could bring over when you come to visit the island. Once again we were able to transport several dogs and cats to a safer future. On our homepage you can check out those happy animals in there new homes at 'What we do and Dog Transport. In case you re willing to become a companion for a dog transport, please contact me in time. The animals will be thankful and surely the new owners too. Support us by letting people know about the DRCS! Pass on the newsletter to your friends and family or spread word of the DRCS through different forums. I strongly believe if we all work together now, we can get through this crisis. Don't forget the dogs and cats on Koh Samui. They still need your help. Every small donation helps us take one step forward 10 kg dry food cost around 6 Euro! A vaccination for a dog costs around 3 Euro! A vaccination for a cat costs around 4 Euro! If you decide to order at Zooplus.de or at Amazon.de we will receive between 3.5% and 8.5% of your purchase value which will be transferred automatically to the DRCS account. To this end, I would appreciate if you would conduct your purchases through us. In order to do so you need to click on our logo on our home page. We have worked on the homepage a lot lately, so it s worthwhile checking out our Info & News page, where you can now follow some of our dog stories and update yourself on all kind of DRCS-news. Our monthly costs amount to 11,000 Euro. If you are on Koh Samui, you are cordially invited to stop by, and welcome to come and look at our (financial) books. The dogs, cats and I always love visitors! Best wishes Brigitte Banking details for sponsors: Please have a look in the webpage Info letter April 2010 - page 8 of 8